Michigan

PREVIEW: Mandy Patinkin

It's not every Monday morning that starts with the likes of Mandy Patinkin reciting Shakespeare over the phone. The singer and actor, who performs Saturday night at Power Center, spoke to The News recently about what he's been up to lately, which includes a foray into the world of The Bard.

Patinkin is best known for his roles in television series such as the medical "Chicago Hope," Showtime's comedy "Dead Like Me" and the first two seasons of the CBS crime drama "Criminal Minds."

However, he first made his mark in musical theater, playing the part of Che in "Evita" on Broadway in 1979 and going on to win a Tony Award for the role. Moviegoers may know Patinkin best as Inigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride."

Q: Are you on tour, or just a few dates here and there?

A: Just a few dates - I'm in New York preparing my Shakespeare. I'm going to be playing Prospero in "The Tempest" at the Classic Stage Company. We're casting and preparing and blah, blah, blah.

Q: What do you enjoy about the role?

A: Everything. I think it's one of the most beautiful roles he's ever written. I love the fact that he has the magical opportunity to reflect on his whole life and try to prepare a better world for his daughter and the children, and the children's future, and to try to forgive himself and those around him that transgressed, and to move on to make the most of tomorrow. And I just love that he paints the human condition of struggle and hope and disappointment in every single class. The clowns are playing the same story that the kings are playing, that the cast-out intellectuals are playing, that the slaves are playing ... everybody's in the exact same spot.

Q: Will we hear some Shakespeare on Saturday?

A: Who knows. I might pull it out and do a little bit or talk about it. That's always a possibility.

Q: Do you have a preference? Music over acting?

A: Oh, I love them both equally, but I really love singing. I'll actually be singing in "The Tempest" - my son and I wrote two songs that Prospero will sing. ... Singing is my first love. It's the easiest way I know to express myself.

Q: You could make the phone book sound like Sondheim!

A: Oh, bless you (laughs).

Q: I assume we'll hear some Sondheim, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter.

A: We're not sure of what we're going to do, but we'll mix it up. It will be a potpourri of Sondheim and Berlin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Yip Harburg and all those guys that wrote show tunes that I like to sing. ... We're also working on some new material by other artists that don't write show tunes; some of those might pop into the show. I just like to keep it a surprise.

Q: Are you still finding new depth and nuance in those songs?

A: I do. They're just so classic that on any given day they reflect toward your life. I don't think about it much ahead of time, I just listen to the words as they are coming out that moment and they almost always hit me.

Q: How about "The Princess Bride"? Do kids walk up to you on the street and go "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

A: They walk up to me of all ages. I get that at least once a day somewhere in my life. It's quite wonderful to have been able to be a part of that. We never imagined when we were making it that it would turn into this classic piece. ...

A lot of people come to the concert just to see the guy from the movie, and I almost always say the line. These kids come and they are not interested in show tunes at all, but they wait to hear that line.

Q: Is there a new CD in your near future? More movies? A return to TV?

A: I'm just working on the Shakespeare thing, I have some other musical things that I am playing with, and that's all I have on the docket at the moment.

Q. Any last words for your Ann Arbor fans?

A: Come to the concert! I love to do it more than anything in the world and I guarantee you a pleasant evening away from the things that trouble you.